The Emperor's Cry
by Durbe the Barian
Summary: Why did it have to happen? He'd finally found her...and that was to be the result. Short oneshot and contains possible spoilers. You have been warned. Do not read unless you have either kept up or you say nuts to spoilers. More Durbe than Rio, but still HolyIceShipping.


**Zexal Oneshot**

**The Emperor's Cry**

**Romance/Angst**

**Durbe/Rio**

**Why did it have to happen? He'd finally found her...and that was to be the result. **

**(I don't own Zexal. If I did, Durbe would be wondering why his heart fluttered whenever he was around Rio.)**

**D.T.B: I decided to do this oneshot before I went into Hohoho mode. No point in writing Christmas specials and then write an especially saddening oneshot. Hehe.**

* * *

The Emperor's Cry

* * *

The ground smelled like burning grass. The air was smokey and heavy. The soil was hard, as if rejecting him. His clothes were messy and torn at the shoulders and knees, most likely a result of him losing to Vector.

His soft grey eyes opened up, allowing him to see the smoke rising from the place where Vector had thrown him to the earth. He tried to force himself up, but his dueling arm was numb from pain. He fell back down to his side and pressed his hand against his shoulder.

His entire left side burned with searing pain. He could hardly move; his body felt so heavy. His breathing was troublesome as he again forced himself into a sitting position. He succeeded, though that was as far as he could go at that point in time. Everything about him was beginning to go numb.

All except his heart, though even that was beginning to give way.

* * *

He leaned against the green trees of Earth as he struggled to walk. To stay in one place was unbefitting of what remained of his pride. His eyes made their way to his throbbing hand. The memories of the duel against Vector were flooding into his mind again. He felt that his heart was about to explode as a result of his failure. His hand reached for his heart as his throat began to tear itself apart.

Why?

Why did that have to happen?

He had tried to protect her with everything he possessed. So why? Why did she negate his trap card? Why did she take the blow that he should have taken in her place? It was his duty to protect her. So why did she prevent him from carrying it out? He had already lost his powers and his status to Vector. Must he lose his pride as well?

His hand clenched tightly as an unfamiliar emotion surged through his body. A pain of an entirely different kind. He couldn't soothe it, regardless of how much he tried to. His eyes burned as drops of water fell from his eyelids.

Initially, he was confused about that which was falling, but then he understood.

They were tears.

It was of little surprise that he had forgotten what they were. He had only suffered them once before. When Merag had first disappeared. He hated them then, and, after enduring them again, he learned that he hated them still.

His hand reached for his face and felt the hot liquid pouring down his face. His lips quivered as his good hand reached for his chest, his bad shoulder leaning against the tree. "Merag," he choked. "Doushite?"

His knees buckled underneath him and he fell to his knees. Then his eyes were directed to the source of his pain.

The garnet pillar that connected the human world to Barian World. Somewhere, amidst the mountain of souls sacrificed to save their world, Merag was sleeping, trapped in Vector's deadly net. Her life was hanging by a miniscule thread. All because he failed to protect her.

He was nothing but a broken shield, hardly worthy of staying by her side.

"_Sayonara, Durbe-kun,_" she had told him before he was forced away. It was as if she didn't care about herself, so long as he was safe. That thought wrenched his jeweled heart.

His hand reached for his face as the tears began to increase. "Doushite, Merag?" he repeated. "Why? Why did you save me?" He fell further to the ground, his tears watering the grass beneath him. "Why did you...protect me? It was my duty to protect you. Why couldn't I...accomplish that much?"

Vector's cackles were ringing in his ears. He couldn't block the traitor out of his mind, not even if he clapped his hands over his ears. The only one who gave him any hope of doing so had left his side.

His shoulders began to heave as he forced himself back onto his knees. His dirt-caked elbows dug into the bark of the tree as he pulled himself back up to his feet. His reddened face looked to the sky, the tears still falling heavily. His throat went hoarse as he screamed but one word.

"VECTOR!"

His cry pierced the garnet sky and scared away the many birds that perched in the trees. Finally, Durbe understood how Nasch had felt when he was unable to help his sister. Durbe could feel himself falling apart as he fell to the ground again. This time, however, he offered no battle against gravity.

He fell to his injured side, his weariness taking hold of him. Vector had stolen so much from him.

His Barian power, leaving him weak.

His Barian Emperor status, leaving him without a home.

His Barian Empress, leaving him with a broken heart.

His lips began to quiver again as he could scarcely make out someone running over to him. The world began to darken as unconsciousness reached out to him, preventing him from hearing Yuma and Alit call out his name. His eyes finally closed, allowing him to see Merag's smiling face once more, her blue hair dancing in the wind.

* * *

He barely remembered waking up with Alit and Yuma looking down at him. He didn't know where he was, nor did he especially care. Merag wasn't there with him. They had asked him what had happened to put him in that condition, but he offered neither an answer nor an explanation. Instead, he placed his hand over his face, preventing them from seeing his threatening tears. It was only when they left that he allowed them to flow.

Durbe laughed softly in spite of himself. Vector was right. He had been reduced to nothing more than a pathetic human. The warm tears that fell from his face were enough evidence to support that madman's claim.

"Merag," he said quietly. So quietly, in fact, he hardly heard himself.

A soft, cold feeling washed over him, and he felt two icy hands touching his cheeks. A sweet voice said only one thing.

"_Don't cry, Durbe-kun."_

He recognized that voice. Even if they were apart, her spirit would always brighten him up. A smile appeared on his face as sleep claimed him.

Rest was essential now.

He was going to get her back.

His pride had been stained, his powers stripped from his being. His only love had been pulled away from him in only the most violent way a Barian could preform.

He failed to protect her once. He was not going to fail again.

Even if it meant siding with Yuma.

Vector was going to pay.

* * *

**D.T.B: Another angsty romance oneshot for the Barian couple. Yay. This probably isn't going to happen in the anime, so I decided to write it while I had the chance. I think I felt like crying when I was writing the part when he screamed. Really pulled at my heartstrings. **


End file.
